Area label Sol Records is taking pre-orders now for the Dallas Moore Band’s next release, Hank To Thank, culled from the locally-based Country crew’s sessions one year ago with longtime Willie Nelson guitarist Jody Payne at the site of Cincinnati’s Herzog studios where Hank Williams laid down some of his early, big hits.

Steve Earle continues to write one of the best second acts in music history

Sober now for 18 years, Earle has been on fire since cleaning himself up in rehab and prison. In fact, I would stand on Townes Van Zandt’s coffee table and argue that never before has an artist improved to such a degree after getting sober. The second half of his career has seen him release consistently great records.

Herzog Studios • Dec. 22

Start the holiday weekend early at 811 Race St. downtown, the one-time home of the Herzog recording studio where Hank Williams' legend was made. The Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation hosts a party to celebrate the Dec. 22, 1948, recording session that birthed the American music classic "Lovesick Blues," a song recently inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Festivities begin at 6:30 p.m., and attendance is limited to 100 people.

Historical marker honors recording studio with vital ties to Hank Williams and popular music's very evolution

"Lovesick Blues" became the most important song in Hank Williams' career and one of the most influential singles in Country and Pop music history. And it was recorded in downtown Cincinnati on Dec. 22, 1948, at E.T. Herzog Recording Company, on the second floor of 811 Race St. In all, the "father of contemporary Country music" would record eight songs there. Yes, before Nashville had Music Row (and even before King Records made its mark) Cincinnati had Herzog on Race.

The Beatles, once designated "Bigger than Jesus" by John Lennon, are now Vatican-approved. Perhaps because of the changing culture (or maybe designed for an approval-ratings boost timed to "Beatles Week" on American Idol), the Vatican newspaper honored The Beatles with special editions timed to the 40th anniversary of their breakup.

The historical marker proposed for the former site of Herzog Studios downtown has been approved. Thanks to the hard work of the Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation, the marker will be installed at the site (where Hank Williams recorded trademark tunes like "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry") on Sunday, Nov. 22, the day of the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards.

A message from the MPMF.09 head honcho

Dear MidPoint Performer: Welcome to Cincinnati, the city I've enjoyed living, working and making music in for the past 20 years. I hope your experience is a great one. And I hope you don't leave. Really. Take a good hard look around while you're here. The rent is cheap, the architecture and geography are stimulating and the people are generally sweethearts. But Cincinnati is also building something, and we need more builders with your kind of tools.

Esoteric local singer/songwriter has his own beat

Billy Catfish (aka Lil' Billy Catfish or, more recently, Billy Catfish Orchestra) hasn't "re-made himself," as he will tell you, but he just spends less time wondering if you care about his views of Fruitarians (or if his jeans are designer enough for you or if he's saying all the correct things to say).

Believe it or not, back in the 1940s and '50s, before recording artists flocked to Nashville, Tenn., some of Country music's legendary artists came to Cincinnati to record hits that would one day make them famous. Hank Williams, Patti Page, and Flatt and Scruggs all played sessions at Cincinnati's historic Herzog Studios, formerly located at 811 Race St.